Delicious

When I was growing up, no Thanksgiving meal was complete without cranberries. Unfortunately, it was canned cranberry sauce. And “sauce” isn’t the right word. It was actually more like cranberry gelatin. Yuck. (If you like it, that’s fine, you can have my share of it.)

This is real cranberry relish. Fast and easy, healthy and delicious. Give it a try!

Cranberry RelishServes 6-81 pound fresh cranberries, washed1 apple, quartered and cored1 navel orange, peeledSweetener, to balance tartness. Depending on the sweetness of the apple and orange, this may not be needed.

Place all ingredients in food processor. Process until evenly chunky. Chill and serve.

1.Preheat oven to 425F2.Lay bread slices on counter. Spray lightly with cooking spray.3.Sprinkle lightly with sage, onion, garlic, pepper and celery salt.4.Lay on cookie sheets in oven, until beginning to brown and are dry (about 30 minutes).5.When toasted, cut into small cubes. Set aside in a large bowl.6.In a large non-stick skillet, heat over med-high.7.Add olive oil. When hot (the oil should shimmer) add onion and celery.8.Saute until the onion begins to turn translucent (2-4 minutes.)9.Add garlic. Saute for 1 minute.10.Add 1 teaspoon rubbed sage, 1/4 teaspoon each celery salt (or powder) and black pepper. Saute for 1 minute.11.Pour onion-celery mixture over bread cubes.12.Pour half the chicken stock, gently mixing. Add more stock as needed. Mixture should be evenly moistened, but not soupy. (If you add more stock, and it doesn’t get absorbed, that is too much. Pour it off.)13.If you still need more liquid, you can use hot water, or any preferred liquid for added flavor: beer, wine, apple juice/cider.14.Preheat to 350.15.Put stuffing a 2 quart casserole, sprayed with cooking spray for easy clean up.16.Bake uncovered until hot (30-45 minutes.)

A few notes:I use my own homemade chicken stock, which has no added salt. That accounts for the low sodium numbers in this recipe. You can use commercially prepared stock, but it will have more sodium. On the other hand, you can find fat free chicken stock, which will result in even lower calories per serving because mine isn’t fat free. (Everything is a trade-off.)

Wrap each fig with the prosciutto, and secure with toothpicks. (If you can’t find prosciutto, you could try very thinly sliced bacon.)

Preheat your grill on high for 5 minutes.Place the figs on the grate. Turn often so that all side cook, but not become burned.

Serve warm.

So easy. So elegant. The grill intensifies the sugars, and makes the fig softer, but not mushy. The prosciutto adds a velvety texture from the fat as it melts into the fig, and the meat is lightly smokey. The contrast between sweet and savory is wonderful.

Make these while you can still find fresh figs!

Nutritional data (per fig):

Calories: 67

Fat: 1.7g

Sat fat: 0.5g

Chol: 12.5mg

Sodium: 230.5mg

Carbs: 9.6g

Fiber: 1.5g

Protein: 4.4g

These would be incredible as a starter or a dessert. I think that since this is a sweet and slightly fatty dish, a semi-dry sparkling wine (possible a Moscato d’Asti) would be a nice match.

Add to mixing cup with ice. Shake until cold. Serve in a rocks glass over fresh ice.

Optional: add 1-2 drops Sriracha or Tabasco sauce.

A strong cocktail, but different than most. Despite the maple syrup, it is not sweet, nor is it tart from the vinegar. They balance, with the syrup lending a soft, almost velvet texture. The liquid smoke adds a little bite. It is quite like drinking the aroma of a good BBQ.

———————————Make Your Someday Today is a twice-weekly podcast, where we talk to successful people in all walks of life and around the world on Monday, and then on Thursday, I take a specific message from the previous guest and give my “Trevitorial”, where I help you apply that message to your life. The entire purpose of the show is to help all of us overcome our challenges and fears and become the person we want to be, the person we deserve to be.

Sorry, I know you are waiting for that epic multi-thousand word post from me (or not!) but today is a busy day, prepping for Christmas #2. I just have a quick note here today.

If you, or someone you love, appreciates high-quality cocktails and you need to find something new, check out Bittercube bitters.

A six pack variety box, each is a one ounce bottle with a dropper for dispensing. Each bottle will make up to 30 cocktails. A recipe card comes with it (try the “Of the Older Fashioned”) as well as a link to more recipes on their website.

This is a small Wisconsin-based company who hand-crafts these wonderful products. Since I appreciate small-batch and hand-crafted items (beer, cheese, sausage, whiskey) this sort of company fits my personality.

So. If you like good cocktails, stick with Angostura. (It is a very good bitters.) But if you want incredible and unique cocktails, flavors that none of your neighbors can match, check out Bittercube.

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My podcast, Make Your Someday Today is a twice-weekly show, where we talk to successful people in all walks of life and around the world on Monday, and then on Thursday, I take a specific message from the previous guest and give my “Trevitorial”, where I help you apply that message to your life. The entire purpose of the show is to help all of us overcome our challenges and fears and become the person we want to be, the person we deserve to be. I hope you give it a listen!